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The Importance of Winning Back Customers

Recapturing lost business should involve strategic steps towards regaining business.

Winning Back Customers Through Customer Retention Research

"Why are many firms so apathetic toward lost customers? Most companies consider churned customers as dead-end opportunities, with no hope for revival. Yet, many of these lapsed customers are simply "dormant" and awaiting resuscitation. The odds are surprisingly favorable for successfully turning lapsed customers into active customers. For example, sales statistics find the average company has a 60 to 70 percent probability of selling again to active customers and a 20 to 40 percent sales probability of successfully selling to lapsed customers. Contrast those two statistics with the fact that, on average, a company has only a 5 to 20 percent probability of making a successful sale to a new prospect. In addition, marketing costs are higher since the number of contacts typically required to turn a prospect into a first-time buyer is much higher than the contacts required to reactivate a lapsed customer. Bottom line, lost customer recovery represents a wise investment for any company." 1

Maintaining business from existing customers that use your service or products should be given the utmost attention. Marketing research can allow companies to gauge the level of importance of different attributes of the product of service they offer. The intention is to keep the customers you have while winning back customers you’ve lost.

It is important to realize the advantages of winning back lost customers. Don’t let potential win-back be an ignored opportunity. Often, a single phone call can attract them back to your business. Former customers already know you and what your company can provide. Discovering why they left is the key to winning them back.

Helpful Tips for Tackling the Win-back Process

Don’t exclude win-back from your loyalty building strategies. Some customer churn is inevitable but with the proper research, companies can win back customers and reduce negative word-of-mouth. The average customer will tell other people about their negative experience. On the flip side, many unhappy customers will come back if they are impressed and they will even refer new customers. Also, reaching out to past customers can help you understand patterns and recognize “at risk” customers in the future.

Ask probing and specific questions. Be strategic with the questions you ask. Important items to cover are: “What brought you here in the first place? What did you want? What has changed? Where have we disappointed you? What improvements would you like to see in our current product or service? What do you feel our competitors do better than us?” These answers will help you positively change your business policies. You may find patterns developing with the answers. Pay attention to responses and consider establishing some new policies and procedures.

Contact us to learn more about winning back customers.

1 "Lost customers can be returned to your fold," Jill Griffin, Austin Business Journal, February 19, 1999